Photos and Videos: what do I need to know?
We all know how to take photos and videos, but do we understand the multimedia copyright and privacy rules so we know when we can legally capture and publish those images?
Multimedia copyright and privacy
Everyone in the campus community may use this site to quickly assess when permission/consent is required to capture and publish images taken on campus of:
- identifiable individuals, and
- pre-exisiting works, such as art.
Real campus scenarios show you how to apply precautions, required by freedom of information and protection of privacy acts as well as copyright acts.
What is multimedia?
What is multimedia?
Multimedia is a variety of media used for communication purposes (graphics, photographs, video, audio and music recordings, etc.)
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Requesting consent: images
Requesting consent: music
Copyright in classroom
Student Society events
When is it acceptable to capture and publish images?
| What | Best practice |
|---|---|
| Capturing images | When in doubt, avoid capturing the image of an identifiable person without their consent. Consider the university as private property, where campus community members should have a reasonable expectation of privacy in their daily routineSee Sources, 1. See examples and limited exceptions that describe when and where consent is required for compliance with privacy laws. |
| Capturing images that include pre-existing works | For a work that you are creating, you must obtain permission before using pre-existing copyright protected works, such as displayed artwork or adding a soundtrack. Incidental inclusion of copyright protected works is not a concern, such as the incidental inclusion of artwork in the Academic Quadrangle when filming an event there. |
| Closed captioning | Transcribe the speech recorded in a video and display the text on the screen of the video, particularly if the video has been posted on a public website or social media site (e.g., YouTube, Vimeo). This particular video production best practice supports individuals with hearing impairments and/or English language competency limitations. It's also helpful for viewers with mobile devices where it may be inappropriate to play videos with sound, such as in public places. |
| Publishing images | Do not publish the image of an identifiable person or copyright-protected work (e.g., music, performances, and most art) without privacy or copyright consentSee Sources, 2. See limited exceptions. |
| Sharing images | Privacy policy permits departments to share photographs as long as they are being used for a consistent purpose such as recruitment or promotion. Permission is required to share with a third party. Sharing videos on platforms such as Vimeo or YouTube should be done using a departmental SFU account created using the SFU email address of a supervisor or designate. See more details. |
| Safeguarding images | Safeguard all work-related photos, video footage, and audio recordings and metadata associated with them, as you are responsible for them under the BC Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA).See Sources, 3. |
Caution: be careful if you are using your personal device to store photos as part of your work duties because of the privacy and security risks involvedSee Sources, 4. See more at Privacy Tips.
Presentation-Multimedia Copyright Privacy 2017rvsd-lr.pdfCheck out the Student Services lunch 'n learn presentation on multimedia: privacy and copyright:
Comments?
Contact Manager, Multimedia and Internal Communciations, Student Services
Permission to photograph or film on compass
Email Meeting, Events, and Confererence Services (MECS) at filming@sfu.ca
More information
Copyright at SFU
Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy at SFU
Sources
- http://ambientlight.ca/laws/overview/what-can-i-photograph/
- http://ambientlight.ca/laws/overview/what-can-i-publish/, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Photographs_of_identifiable_people
- BC FIPPA - http://www.bclaws.ca/Recon/document/ID/freeside/96165_00
- https://www.oipc.bc.ca/guidance-documents/1827